Pages

Thursday, 1 March 2012

Magic In The Mess.

Well that was a bit of a holiday for you all from me wasn’t it? But fear not! I have returned! Fully medicated!
How did February go? Well, to be brutally honest, a lot of it was on my face in my bed with a biscuit or ten gripped in my hand. That was a fun week or two for all the Hoard inhabitants. Thank you to all who applied gentle and not so gentle verbal levers to my prone form.
The thing I really had to choke down on in the past few weeks along with the biscuit crumbs was the shame. And not just mine either. There was a reeling moment of “What the hell I am doing?” “WHY the hell I am doing this?” The initial shame of the Hoard and remembering this isn’t how I want to live and that I didn’t always live like this (that part can get far more easily lost than you think) also morphed into worry about forcing someone to living how you want them to. Even an extra worry about this blog. It forces Major Dragon’s life into the public domain. I suddenly understood why so many children of hoarders chose to let it go and just empty a house after the hoarder has left it. If they are not there then that is half the problem solved in terms of a hoard and your own problems can take the lead. (And boy do children of hoarders come blessed with a plethora of problems. But that is a post for another day.) I had lengthy talks with friends that helped me so much but when I mentioned this to MD she was actually quite upset at the thought of me discussing her with them. My needs vs. hers are a very fine tightrope to walk. It is quite a hard decision. Every time I choose to talk I choose to put myself first. I am certainly no saint but that isn’t just a difficult decision that has been made, it has to be made every time. It still does feel a bit selfish even if, ultimately, MD benefits. I have to keep reminding myself that it does help us both in the end. And watch this a few times. (hat tip to Brené Brown for inspiring the name of the post. Her blog is over here if you are curious)
Anyway, the Hoard Status report: Still Hoardy. A good few of the verbal lever appliers reminded me that baby steps still count. So I shall count it as a success that it might not be any better than a few weeks ago but it isn’t any worse. Actually in a hoarding situation that requires a lot more work than people assume. When you are in a guddle there doesn’t seem much point bothering with picking up after yourself. After all it doesn’t make much a difference to your surroundings. My walking on the hoarding spot policy is, even if none of the Hoard is undone, that a full bin WILL go out weekly. Even if does mean standing at 7 in the morning shouting at MD for her to give me her rubbish bag out her bedroom. And actually in a bid to fill the last of the bin there is a quick shoot about to gather up stuff to pitch which eventually should begin to show a difference. I have stationed rolls of binbags everywhere so there is never a search for them (well in theory,) moved the wheelie bins to the house door passed through and by most often. I don’t know if that makes a difference but I feel all organised and stuff. Line up brain, bins and hopefully the body will follow.
And MARCH!
Next time on the Secret Dragon Hoard, Boxes and the Idiot Box. Unless I have a squirrel moment.

4 comments:

I agree completely - every single bit of stuff out of the house helps, even if you can't see the results right away. I also agree that it sure would be easier without the hoarder there! I have challenged myself to remove 2000 things a year from my own (mostly non-hoarded) house in a bid to keep from turning into my parents. I'm not normally a really competitive type, but with this I am working hard to get to that goal for 2012, and did it last year, too. I am blogging about it at www.The2000Things.com.I am cheering for you!

I plan to keep doing it every year, as I expect I will never in my lifetime run out of things to remove. I have kids, so they add to the collections! Not everything I remove is large, so if I wasn't keeping track of the items, it would sometimes be hard to see progress without looking through cabinets and drawers. I am at 825 items gone so far for 2012.

You sound well on track to manage the 2000 in 2012! I am very impressed. If we manage to dehoard this house I suspect I will have to do something similar to ensure it never ends up this way again. Well done :)

About Me

In the middle of everything including an unholy mess. Mid thirties. Depressed. Living with my mother. Who is a major hoarder. Blogging to document my attempts to CLEAN SHIT UP. And gently try and encourage my mother to try and do the same before we are buried in here.